Teachers and other adults who work with children may face a legal duty to report suspicions of abuse as the Government considers a reversal of policy.

Michael Gove triggered surprise yesterday when he told MPs that a new obligation to report abuse in institutional settings is being actively examined in the Department for Education.

His willingness to reconsider follows a face-to-face meeting with Tom Perry, a victim of abuse in the 1960s at Caldicott prep school, in Buckinghamshire, that had a profound impact on the Education Secretary. He told MPs that he now found the case for action “compelling”.